Method for need based order picking of medicine portions in dispensing packs

ABSTRACT

A method for the automated dispensing of medication portions is disclosed. Medication packs are automatically retrieved by a control unit from an automated storage facility, and medication portions are automatically removed from the packs and dispensed into a dispensing pack. A determination is made as to whether any medication portions are remaining within the retrieved medication packs, and those medication packs having remaining medication portions are returned to the automated storage facility by the control unit.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims the benefit of priority as a continuationof U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/457,044, entitled “Method forNeed-Based Order-Picking of Medicine Portions in Dispensing Packs,”filed on Aug. 11, 2014, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,221,564, issued Dec. 29,2015, which claims the benefit of priority as a continuation of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 12/919,187, entitled “Method for Need-BasedOrder-Picking of Medicine Portions in Dispensing Packs,” filed on Sep.21, 2010, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,805,571, issued Aug. 12, 2014, whichclaims the benefit of priority as a national phase of InternationalPatent Application Serial No. PCT/EP2009/001337, entitled “Method forNeed-Based Order-Picking of Medicine Portions in Dispensing Packs,”filed on Feb. 25, 2009, which claims the benefit of priority to EuropeanPatent Application Serial No 08151912.6, entitled “Method for OrderingMedicine Portions in Dispensing Packs According to Need,” filed on Feb.25, 2008, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by referencein their entirety for all purposes.

BACKGROUND

The invention concerns a method for need-based requisitioning orcommissioning of medication or medicament portions in dispensing packs.

Medications or medicaments are given out to patients, medical personnel,or nurses or to their caregivers in basically two different types ofpackaging. On the one hand, there are medication or medicament packsthat are usually given out by pharmacists and which each contain aplurality of identical medication or medicament portions such as, forexample, blisters containing several tablets, capsules, orsuppositories. Here the patient or his caregiver is himself responsiblefor the correct removal and dosing of the individual medication portionsfrom the medication packs. As a rule, he receives tips for this from apharmacist. A second form of dispensing medications is called a“dispensing pack” here. The dispensing pack contains several receptionchambers, into each of which one or several medication portions arefilled, to each reception chamber of which is assigned acharacterization, for example the administration times (date, day of theweek, time of day). Each reception chamber can contain several differentmedication portions. But it is also conceivable that exactly one chamberis provided for each individual medication portion, whereby, forexample, several chambers are assigned to the same administration time.Moreover, the medication portions can also be divided up in the chambersso that each chamber contains only identical medication portions. Themedication portions themselves contained in the chambers can also stillbe wrapped with separate packaging. Such dispensing packs have, forexample, the form of blisters, in which the individual chambers areformed between two foils connected to one another (for instancehot-sealed). But the dispensing packs can also be constructed in anarrangement of cartons or little boxes connected to one another.

Such dispensing packs are currently frequently filled manually, in whicha practitioner (for instance the personnel in a pharmacy, a hospital, ora nursing home) first transports to a workplace a series of conventionalmedication packs which each contain several blister packs, thereprepares the empty packs to be filled for the dispensing packs withseveral reception chambers each, and then removes from the individualmedication packs the necessary number of medication portionsrespectively and fills in the correct respective reception chambers ofthe dispensing packs to be filled. The individual medication portionsare, for example, squeezed out of conventional blister packs, several ofwhich are each contained in a conventional medication pack, whereby theythen fall directly into the appropriate reception chamber of thedispensing pack. Then the partly emptied blister packs are packed backinto the conventional medication packs. The partially filled blisterpacks containing the medication packs are then laid at a storage sitefor later removal of further medication portions. The dispensing packfilled with the medication portions can then be closed up. Errors canoccur in this manual production process for dispensing packs. Forexample, individual medication portions can be filled into the wrongchamber, or the case may occur that too great a number of medicationportions is removed from the medication pack and the excess medicationportions subsequently inadvertently not put back into this medicationpack but into another one; likewise if the medication pack beingprepared at the workplace is filled back up with another type ofmedication.

One solution to this problem could be in the automation of the overallprocess. For example, there are automated dispensing devices, in whichthe medication portions that are to be filled into the dispensing packsare made available in advance in special cases, in which the cases arefilled with a large number of medication portions put in loosely and aremade available by means of a specially integrated dispensing arrangementfor dispensing individual medication portions. The dispensing device caninclude several case receivers, which can each receive one case with apredetermined type of medication portion. The dispensing device canfurther include a trigger arrangement which can activate the dispensingarrangement of a case containing a case receiver such that medicationportions are issued in a predetermined number from the case. Thedispensing device then transports the removed medication portion intothe correct reception chamber of the dispensing pack and for itsclosure. According to patent specification DE 10 2005 063 197 84, such adispensing device can, for instance, be combined with amedication-storage machine, whose dispensing device provides for storingthe case, its transport to the case receiver of the dispensing device,and its transfer. The medication-storage machine used for a dispensingdevice is, for example, of a type such as is described in the patentspecification DE 195 09 951 C2. These known dispensing devices have thedrawback that they require special cases with an integrated dispensingarrangement in which the medication portions are loosely laid. Use ofconventional medication packs which contain several blister packs, forinstance, is not possible for dispensing medication portions to befilled from dispensing packs.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

A task of the invention is to minimize the errors of manual productionmentioned at the beginning, without dispensing devices with specialcases for medication portions having to be used.

This problem is solved according to the invention by a method for theneed-based requisitioning or commissioning of medication portions indispensing packs.

With the method according to the invention for the need-basedcommissioning of medication or medicament portions in dispensing packswhen using an automated storage, in which a plurality of differentmedication or medicament packs is placed or stored chaotically withoptimum utilization of space in storage areas having storage surfaces oflevel shelves or slanted chutes, wherein the medication packs are storedor removed from the storage surfaces with the aid of at least onecomputer-controlled control unit or operating device, wherein blisterpacks of different sizes, each containing several medication ormedicament portions of a specific type in several reception chambers,wherein the reception chambers in the case of the different blisterpacks can be arranged in various ways, are then identified in a step (a)with the aid of at least one computer-controlled control unit and areplaced in the automated storage so that the automated storage facilitywill contain blister packs in addition to the medication packs. At thesame time, the data identifying the individual blister packs are storedor saved according to the characteristics of their respective storagesite. The blister packs to be stored are, for example, removed beforethe conventional medication packs or even wholesale packs, areidentified in advance, and are stored in the automated storage.

In a step (b), at least one of the dispensing packs to be filled (alsocalled a “customer container”) is provided at an automated fillingstation and is filled as needed, while for each type of medicationportion in the dispensing pack to be filled into the dispensing packs,the following steps are performed: (b1) one blister pack containing thistype is retrieved or removed by means of a control unit or operatingdevice from the automated storage facility and is transported to thefilling station; (b2) at least one individual medication portion isremoved from the blister pack or separated from it by a device for theseparation of medication portions, wherein the number of the medicationportions remaining in the blister pack is calculated or identified; (b3)the at least one removed or separated medication portion is filled intoat least one predetermined reception chamber of the dispensing pack; and(b4) the blister pack is returned to the automated storage facility,provided that at least a predetermined number of medication portions(e.g., one medication portion) remains in the blister pack.

Then in a step (c), the filled dispensing pack is returned and stored inthe same or another automated storage facility, provided the dispensingpack is not to be issued or released yet (for example, to a patient,customer, or physician or into a non-automated storage). The number andthe arrangement of the medication portions contained in the blister packare (i) recorded upon storing the blister pack in the first stepmentioned above (i.e., step (a)) and are stored according to theidentifying data or (ii) are recorded or detected after the removal ofthe blister pack in the step (b1) mentioned above and before the removalor the separation of the at least one medication portion in the step(b2) mentioned above.

Based on recording according to the invention the number and arrangementof the medication portions contained in a blister pack and theirtracking over the removal process, it is possible, for the production ofthe dispensing pack (“customer container”), for conventional blisterpacks to be used out of conventional medication packs. Further, thisflexibility leads to the method according to the invention being able toutilize the known storage principles of medication-storage machines forpreparing blister packs. Naturally, the storage places and the controlunit, if necessary, are to be adapted for handling blister packs.

In a preferred embodiment of the method according to the invention, instep (a) of the storage of the blister packs in the automated storagefacility, the following steps are performed: (a1) a medication pack,which contains at least one blister pack in a package, is transported toa packing station; (a2) the at least one blister pack is removed orextracted from the package; (a3) identifying information for themedication pack is transferred and stored as the identifying data forthe at least one blister pack; and (a4) the at least one blister pack isinserted or stored into the automated storage facility, whereby theidentifying information stored as identifying data are related to theidentification of the storage sites.

In a preferred embodiment of the method according to the invention, themedication pack in step (a1) is retrieved from the automated storagefacility or from another automated storage and the identifyinginformation is automatically transferred by control equipment of theautomated storage facility in step (a3). This has the advantage thatafter the removal of the blister packs from the medication pack, noinput of information identifying the medication is necessary. Dependingon the data made available for the medication pack, it is even possiblethat information on the number and arrangement of the medicationportions contained in the blister pack is removed from the storage bythe control equipment of the automated storage facility (controlcomputer). Should this information not, however, be available, forexample, then this is to be fully recorded, for instance by opticallyrecording or by measuring the blister pack removed.

In another preferred embodiment of the method according to theinvention, the medication pack is retrieved or removed in step (a1) fromthe same automated storage facility in which the isolated blister packis stored in step (a4). The blister packs can be stored at the same timein the same storage area in which the conventional medication packs arealso placed. But it is also possible that the blister packs are storedin storage areas specially adapted for storing such packs. These storageareas can, for example, be flat areas or inclined compartments out ofwhich the blister packs project toward the front, for instance, orvertical slots into which the blister packs are inserted.

In one embodiment of the method, the blister pack is manually removed instep (a2) by a practitioner from the medication pack transportedthereto, and the identifying information is transferred in step (a3) byreading an identification means of the medication pack. Printedbarcodes, transponder chips (RFIDs), or other means, for example, serveas identification means which link the readable identifying informationto the packaging. The transfer can occur, for example, by a scan of thebarcode or querying the RFID chip, as well as by automated datatransfer, or even by manual transfer, that is, manual input of the data.The data can also be transferred after scanning a barcode, for examplefrom a database that is linked to the control equipment.

In a preferred embodiment of the method according to the invention, theblister packs are stored in the automated storage facility, in which theblister packs are each fastened onto a holder or at a holder. The holderis so constructed that a control unit can grasp and transport the holderwith the blister pack lying on it or fastened to it. The holder can, forexample, be a clip which on the one hand is clipped fast to the blisterpack and on the other hand exhibits arrangements that allow storageadapted to the type of the blister pack and an intervention of thecontrol unit or operating device. For instance, the holder can beconstructed so that the blister pack can be hung onto a rail by means ofthe control unit and can be removed again. But a flat tray can also beinvolved in the case of the holder, on which the blister pack can simplybe laid out, and it likewise exhibits arrangements (a front wall, forexample) for the control unit to grab on. In a further development ofthis embodiment of the method according to the invention, the holderexhibits an identification means containing information identifying theholder. The identification means is any means that is connected to theholder and can make readable information available, for instance abarcode or a transponder chip. The identification means of the holder isread upon or after the fastening or the retrieval of the blister packand the information identifying the holder is (by means of software)assigned to the information identifying the blister pack. The sameholder can thereby be used several times for different blister packs.The assignment of the holder identification for the identification ofthe assigned blister pack can be performed in the control equipment'smemory. The identification means of the holder can also be omitted. Inthis case, an equivalent identification means is provided on the blisterpack itself. It is even conceivable that on the blister pack accordingto each medication portion, an identification means is introducedidentifying the medication portion, for example, a small two-dimensionalbarcode can be provided on the blister pack. Storage is also conceivablefor which the identifying information is assigned, internal to thecomputer only, to the storage site of the blister pack, without theblister pack itself or the holder exhibiting identification means. Thiscan lead, however, to identification loss upon damage to the data inmemory. It is also conceivable that the transferred informationidentifying the medication pack is transferred to an identificationmeans (a transponder chip, for instance) of the holder upon or after thefastening of the blister pack to or placement on the holder.

In one embodiment, the data identifying the blister pack can include thedata identifying medication contained in the medication portion andexpiration data. Moreover, information can still be assigned for thetype of storage and further information.

In one preferred embodiment of the method according to the invention,the number of medication portions contained in the blister pack uponstoring the blister pack in step (a) is recorded and stored according tothe identifying data, in which this stored number is accordinglyincremented respectively upon the removal or the separation of the atleast one medication portion in step (b2). Additionally, it is possiblethat the arrangement of the medication portions contained in the blisterpack is also recorded upon storage and then stored. In one embodiment,the number and/or arrangement of the medication portions contained inthe blister pack are recorded in step (b1) and before the removal or theseparation of the at least one medication portion in step (b2), in whichthe retrieved blister pack is measured. The measurement includes, forexample, a weighing and/or an optical scanning of the dimensions or ofthe identification means introduced. The number and the arrangement ofthe medication portions contained in the blister pack must be knownbefore the step of removal or separation of the medication portion, atleast to the extent that a targeted removal/separation by the isolatingdevice is possible. For example, embodiments are conceivable in whichthe number is already recorded and stored upon storing the blister packsin the automated storage facility and is incremented accordingly uponeach removal, wherein the arrangement of the medication portions in theblister pack is recorded first upon or after the removal of the blisterpack from the storage.

The medication portions to be filled into the dispensing pack can beboth removed from the blister pack (squeezed out, for instance) orseparated from it. In one embodiment, the medication portions areseparated from the blister pack such that they remain held by a separateblister section. In another preferred embodiment, the medicationportions are each removed from the blister pack, in which they aresqueezed out, whereby the medication portions are immediately filled,after the removal in step (b3), into a reception chamber of thedispensing pack. Preferably, the medication portions are squeezed outand immediately or directly filled in such a way that it will not touchany parts of the separation device. This prevents contamination of thedevice parts by the rest of the different medication portions.

Further advantageous and/or preferred developments of the invention arecharacterized in the subclaims. In the following, the invention isdescribed in more detail with the aid of a preferred embodiment of themethod according to the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a flow chart of a method for the need-based commissioning ofmedicament portions in dispensing packs according to the presentdisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In a preferred embodiment of the method according to the invention, andwith reference to FIG. 1, conventional medication packs, a few of whichcontain one or several blister packs, are first stored in a storagemachine. Such a storage machine is described, for example, in the patentspecification DE 195 09 951 C2 or in the application publication of EP 1762 511 A1. For storing the conventional medication packs, both a shelfsystem with flat shelf-trays and a chute system with inclined or slantedstorage chutes can be used or a combination of the two. The medicationpacks are chaotically stored with optimum utilization of space, in whichone or several control units and the transport devices provide forstorage and retrieval.

According to the invention, individual blister packs are provided first,in addition to the conventional medication packs, to be placed in theautomated storage facility. At the same time, the blister packs can, forexample, likewise be placed on flat shelf-trays or in inclined chutes,in which the control unit is fitted with a gripping arrangement forgrasping such blister packs. But the individual blister packs can alsobe placed in a special storage area, which is adapted to their storage,for instance narrow vertical or horizontal compartments, or it can beconfigured with devices for hanging the blister packs fastened to aholder. A blister pack hanging vertically or standing in a compartmentcould, for example, be caught by gripper jaws and a blister pack lyingdown could be caught by a suction gripper operating from above at theblister. Preferably, the blister packs are provided with specialholders, which make the grasp of the control unit or operating deviceeasier, and an integral mechanical interface is made available for thecontrol unit.

For storing the blister packs in the automated storage facility,individual medication packs are first retrieved in a conventional wayfrom the automated storage facility, that is, grabbed by a control unitor operating device and transported to a packing station. Naturally,medication packs that have not yet been stored in the automated storagefacility can also be manually made available at the packing station. Auser removes the individual blisters from these medication packs thatwere transported to the packing station and transfers them individuallyto a control unit or a transport arrangement for further storing in theautomated storage facility. In this process, the identifying informationassigned to the previously retrieved medication pack (medicationidentification and expiration data, for instance) are transferred andsaved for the blister packs to be stored again. Because the controlequipment knows, after the re-storage of the blister packs, the site atwhich a certain blister pack is stored, no information arrangement (forexample, a barcode or RFID) is to be exhibited once the blister packitself is broken, since the identifying information can simply beassigned to the storage site. However, in order to increase handlingsecurity, each blister pack is assigned an identification means. It isthereby conceivable that the blister packs are provided from the startwith identification means such as, for instance, a barcode. In anotherembodiment, identifications means can be assigned to a holder, which isconnected to the blister pack. The identification of the holder is thenassigned, internally to the computer, to the identification of theblister pack.

If an order now arrives for the need-based requisitioning orcommissioning of medication packs in dispensing packs, that is, an orderfor the production of dispensing packs for customers, the process is asfollows. First it is established whether the blister packs necessary forhandling the order are in the automated storage facility in isolatedform or inside conventional medication packs. If they are still inconventional medication packs, these are first retrieved one after theother, whereby a practitioner removes the blister packs and stores themagain in the machine, as described above.

Then the individual blister packs needed for the dispensing pack areautomatically retrieved from the storage machine and an automatedunblistering unit is made available. In this unit, individual medicationportions of the blister packs are removed and filled directly into thereception chambers provided in the dispensing pack. For example, ablister pack for a first type of medication portion, for instance afirst tablet type, is retrieved from the machine and transported to theunblistering unit. The unit removes one or several tablets in thedesired way, in which it squeezes the tablets out of the blister pack,and fills the tablets removed into the reception chambers provided. Forexample, a dispensing pack is produced which contains one receptionchamber each for the seven days of the week respectively and threeadministration times each (morning, noon, and evening) and if the firsttablet should be taken out in the morning, the unblistering unitsqueezes out seven tablets one after the other from the blister pack andprovides for filling the tablets into chambers provided for the morningremoval. Provided the number of medication portions contained in ablister pack (or the medication portions remaining therein) is notsufficient for the complete filling of the dispensing pack, a furtheridentical blister pack is retrieved, if necessary, and transported tothe unblistering unit. If the filling of the first medication type isfinished, a blister pack with a second type of medication is retrieved,as needed, for example, a blister pack with several medicine capsules,and is transported to the unblistering unit. Then in the same way, anappropriate number of medication portions (capsules) is filled into thedesired reception chambers of the dispensing pack. This process isrepeated automatically as often as needed until the desired medicationportions are placed in the desired number into the reception chambersprovided in the dispensing pack. Then the dispensing pack is just closedup, if necessary, for instance the reception chambers are enclosedbetween two foils.

In this way, the filled dispensing pack can be subsequently issued (forexample to a customer or to a non-automated storage facility) or evenstored again in the automated storage facility, provided it is notneeded yet. In this way, orders are requisitioned ahead of time and arethen retrieved at a later time from the machine.

What is claimed is:
 1. A machine-implemented method, comprising:retrieving, from a first storage site of a storage facility without userintervention, a first blister pack comprising one or more medicationportions of a first medication type; removing, without userintervention, at least one of the medication portions of the firstmedication type from the retrieved first blister pack; dispensing,without user intervention, the removed at least one medication portionof the first medication type into a dispensing pack; updating, withoutuser intervention based on the removing or dispensing of the at leastone medication portion, a stored number of medication portions of thefirst medication type that are contained by the first blister pack;identifying the retrieved first blister pack as having one or moreremaining medication portions; and returning, based on the identifyingand without user intervention, the retrieved first blister pack to thefirst storage site, wherein a subsequent removing or dispensing from thefirst blister pack is based on the recorded number.
 2. Themachine-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: retrieving,from a second storage site of the storage facility without userintervention, a second blister pack comprising one or more medicationportions of a second medication type; removing, without userintervention, at least one of the medication portions of the secondmedication type from the retrieved second blister pack; and dispensing,without user intervention, the removed at least one medication portionof the second medication type into the dispensing pack.
 3. Themachine-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the dispensing packcomprises a plurality of chambers, the method further comprising:dispensing, without user intervention, a plurality of differentmedication portions among the plurality of chambers according to apredetermined medication administration schedule, the plurality ofdifferent medication portions comprising the at least one medicationportion of the first medication type and the at least one medicationportion of the second medication type.
 4. The machine-implemented methodof claim 1, further comprising: associating an identification of thefirst medication type and expiration data with the first blister pack,wherein the first blister pack is retrieved based on at least theassociated identification.
 5. The machine-implemented method of claim 4,wherein the identification and expiration data is assigned to the firstblister pack by way of a computer-readable tag.
 6. Themachine-implemented method of claim 4, wherein the identification andexpiration data is associated with an identifier of the first storagesite in a database.
 7. The machine-implemented method of claim 6,further comprising: providing a new blister pack to the storagefacility; determining, without user intervention, that the new blisterpack comprises medication portions of the first medication type; basedon determining that the new blister pack comprises medication portionsof the first medication type, associating an identifier of the newblister pack with the identifier of the first storage site in thedatabase; and providing the new blister pack for retrieval from thefirst storage site based on the identifier of the first storage site. 8.The machine-implemented method of claim 4, further comprising: storing,before or in connection with retrieving the first blister pack, thenumber of medication portions of the first medication type that arecontained by the first blister pack.
 9. The machine-implemented methodof claim 8, wherein the updating comprises optically measuring the oneor more remaining medication portions of the retrieved first blisterpack.
 10. A machine-implemented method, comprising: retrieving, from anautomated storage facility using a computer-controlled control unit, amedication pack comprising one or more medication portions of amedication type; removing, without user intervention, at least one ofthe medication portions from the retrieved medication pack; dispensing,without user intervention, the removed at least one medication portionof the medication type into a dispensing pack; updating, without userintervention based on the removing or dispensing of the at least onemedication portion, a stored number of medication portions of themedication type that are contained by the medication pack; determining,without user intervention, that the retrieved medication pack comprisesat least one remaining medication portions; and returning, based on thedetermining and using the control unit, the retrieved medication pack tothe automated storage facility, wherein a subsequent removing ordispensing from the medication pack is based on the stored number. 11.The machine-implemented method of claim 10, wherein the dispensing packcomprises a plurality of chambers, the method further comprising:dispensing, without user intervention, a plurality of differentmedication portions among the plurality of chambers according to apredetermined medication administration schedule.
 12. Themachine-implemented method of claim 10, wherein the medication pack is ablister pack.
 13. The machine-implemented method of claim 10, furthercomprising: associating, in a memory associated with the control unit,an identification of the medication type and expiration data with themedication pack, wherein the medication pack is retrieved by the controlunit based on at least the associated identification.
 14. Themachine-implemented method of claim 13, wherein the identification andexpiration data is assigned to the medication pack by way of acomputer-readable tag.
 15. The machine-implemented method of claim 13,wherein automated storage facility comprises a plurality of storagesites, the method further comprising: associating the identification andexpiration data with an identifier of a respective storage site in thememory.
 16. The machine-implemented method of claim 15, furthercomprising: providing a new medication pack to the automated storagefacility; determining, without user intervention, that the newmedication pack comprises medication portions of the medication type;based on determining that the new medication pack comprises medicationportions of the medication type, associating an identifier of the newmedication pack with the identifier of the respective storage site inthe memory; and providing the new medication pack for retrieval from therespective storage site based on the identifier of the respectivestorage site.
 17. The machine-implemented method of claim 13, furthercomprising: storing, before or in connection with retrieving themedication pack, the number of medication portions of the medicationtype that are contained by the medication pack.
 18. Themachine-implemented method of claim 17, wherein the updating comprisesoptically measuring the one or more remaining medication portions of theretrieved medication pack.
 19. A machine-implemented method, comprising:retrieving, from an automated storage facility without userintervention, a plurality of medication packs each comprising one ormore medication portions of a respective medication type; removing,without user intervention, at least one medication portion from eachretrieved medication pack; dispensing, without user intervention, theremoved medication portions into a dispensing pack; updating, withoutuser intervention based on the removing or dispensing, a stored numberof medication portions for each respective medication type; determining,without user intervention, one or more of the retrieved medication packscomprise one or more remaining medication portions after the dispensing;and returning, based on the determining and without user intervention,the one or more of the retrieved medication packs to the automatedstorage facility, wherein a subsequent removing or dispensing is basedon the stored number of medication portions for each respectivemedication type.
 20. The machine-implemented method of claim 19, whereinthe dispensing pack comprises a plurality of chambers, the methodfurther comprising: dispensing, without user intervention, a pluralityof different medication portions from the retrieved medication packsamong the plurality of chambers according to a predetermined medicationadministration schedule.